According to an article in the Boston Globe this morning, we are (supposedly and finally) going to get the study needed to try to demonstrate whether there is a real clinical benefit to proton beam radiation therapy as compared to modern, intensity-modulated radiation therapy in men with localized prostate cancer!
The study is to be led by specialists at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, but will include patients at at least four other centers (including the University of Pennsylvania). What is not yet clear is the exact study design or any other details. The only two other details available in the article in the Boston Globe state that the study will “last” for 5 years (but that is likely the time it will take to enroll enough patients) and that the first patients will be enrolled in Boston in June.
We will try to find out more about this trial over the next couple of days. There are a lot of unanswered questions as of 9 am Eastern this morning.
Filed under: Management, Treatment | Tagged: IMRT, PBRT, photon, proton, radiation therapy |
THE "NEW" PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK 
So what about the expected 5-year study due this year from M. D. Anderson in Houston?
Chuck:
Maybe M. D. Anderson is one of the other centers participating. This is just one of the issues I am trying to get clarification about.